A Hearty Life
by Moonlight Star
Summary: A girl wants to prove that she's not a little girl, so she goes into a haunted house to prove this. But, she gets scared and backs into a wall, expecting her back to hit it, and not go through it! Just where does she end up? With Jack, of course!
1. Default Chapter

Summery: On a dare, a girl walks into a haunted house to prove that she's not a child and that she can handle it. But, when she goes in and gets scared out of her wits she runs into a room to get away from the odd noises that she's hearing. She backed into the wall in fright, but instead of hitting the solid wall...she fell through it!

Rumor has it that everybody who had ever lived there disappeared, is it possible that they too fell through the wall and into another dimension? And just where does she end up? .. Why on Jack's ship of course!

A Hearty Life

By: MoonLight Star

The wind blew gently across her face, causing her long mid-back chocolate hair to caress her face. Instead of making her smile, like she usually would, a frown remained on her face as she looked to her friend and her sister.

"You wouldn't last a day in there!" Her friend, Toni, had told her. She was a very plump woman with shoulder length blonde hair that was parted on the left side of her head. Her short blonde hair was teased all over, this was the style that she had everyday; in fact Lynn had never seen her with another hairstyle.

The other girl, who looked quite the opposite of Toni, was smiling broadly at Lynn with a small twinkle in her eye. "Why don't you go in there, Lynn? See if the rumors are true."

Lynn's eyes widened a bit as she thought of actually going into the house. It was said to have been haunted, there were ghosts who hated everybody who ever set foot in their house. They would literally chase the occupants out. Nobody dared move in because of them. The owner of the house, who was to afraid to live there, would give anyone who stayed a whole night there $50.00 if they didn't run out scared. But, they had to stay the whole day and whole night there. Needless to say, nobody has gotten their $50.00, as they had all ran out.

"Why me? Why don't you go, Toni? You've always said that nothing could scare you." Lynn said, trying to get out of going into the house. She got scared very easily and she really didn't want to go into that house.

"Awww...your to afraid, huh?" Toni had said while pouting her pink lips and talking in a baby voice. Blushing, Lynn crossed her arms over her chest in a defense position. "I'm not scared!"

"Then how come you won't go in?"

"Cause...I don't feel like it! I'm hungry, I want to go get something to eat." Lynn said blushing even more. She knew it was a lame excuse but she hoped it would work anyway. Sighing, Toni once again started talking in her baby voice. "Ok, whatever you say, munchkin."

Lynn's eyes narrowed immediately and Toni smiled at the reaction. She knew how much Lynn hated that name. "If you go in there and stay there for an hour, I will never call you a munchkin again, deal?"

Lynn blinked a bit as her gaze dropped to the ground, thinking it over. She knew if she didn't do this then she would be called the dreaded..oh she didn't even want to think of the 'm' word! It was the name she despised above all else, except for maybe 'kido'. It meant that she was thought of as a little girl, and even though she may be young and a bit innocent, and was probley true in almost everybody's eyes, she hated to be reminded of it. If she just sucked it up and did this then maybe nobody would call her that cursed name again. Maybe she would finally be thought of as an adult, or at least somebody who wasn't a child.

"Alright, I'll do it." She mumbled. She didn't want to but she had to do something to stop people from seeing her as a little girl.

Grinning, Toni and her sister stepped a side, leaving a clear path to the haunted house. Deciding to go ahead and get this over with, she walked down the path, though a bit slow. She placed her pale hand onto the cold hard doorknob and twisted it. It wasn't locked, the owner of the house thought the ghosts were the best security in the world, there for, didn't need an alarm or to even lock the door.

She pushed the door open and walked into the dusty two-story house. It had beautiful wooden floors and antique furnisher that looked rather expensive. Lynn turned back to the door to close it, but she saw a glance of Toni and her sister. They were talking to the owner of the house, who kept staring at her, which she really didn't like because she saw the amusement on his face.

Determined to last the night, she slammed the door shut.


	2. A Skeleton in the MoonLight

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Author Notes: _Welcome to the second chapter of 'A Hearty Life'! ^-^_

Kittey - Thanks for your comments! I've been very busy lately with my fanfic's (My muses!! They've gone wild!! They keep coming up with new story idea's to write and are forcing me to write them!! ^^;; ) So I haven't gotten a chance to look at your fanfiction, but I will! ^-^

Tom - I am sorry that you think Lynn is a Marry Sue. Personally, I don't like Mary Sue's, but have you noticed that almost every made up character that comes into a fanfic universe somebody always calls them a Marry Sue? That's because the story is focusing a bit more on them then on some of the other characters. To me, that's not really a Merry Sue unless the writer has written so many fanfic's and they are all about her and nobody else.

What really makes a Mary Sue for me is to have the character be perfect, like think of the Lord of the Rings, when people write about it and they have Legolas meet a girl, the girl will have never had shot a bow and arrow in her life, but they make it on her first try, she's great! Which I have always hated. Lynn is nothing like that. She's just a normal girl who knows nothing about being on the ocean or anything about Pirates, really. She's just a regular teenage girl ^^

Elita - Thank you so much! Your so sweet ^.^ I'm so glad you like the story, and I really really hope you like this second chapter ^^

Now that I've bored everybody half to death with my answers to the reviews ^^;;; you can now enjoy the story! (Unless of course you skipped this entire Author's Note.. ^^; )

A Hearty Life

A Skeleton in the MoonLight

By MoonLight Star

"I can't believe this." Lynn muttered for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. "What have I gotten myself into?" She had only been in the haunted house for a total of twelve minutes, and all ready she was hearing creepy noises coming from upstairs.

She kept hearing furniture moving, or the pitter patter of feet running, and every now and then she could hear a man laughing, but it wasn't a laugh of glee, it was a manic kind of laugh which made goose bumps appear on her arms and legs.

Needless to say, Lynn wished she could jump up and run out the door. But, now that she was here if she walked out she would never ever hear the end of it from Toni. So, Lynn was sitting on the couch quietly, timing how long she had been there till her one hour was up, till she could leave.

She figured if she turned a deaf ear to the noises and just sat there, then nothing bad would happen. It was boring, but it was better then running through the house scared.

Lynn jumped when she heard a man scream loudly from right behind her. Her head whipped to the side, looking franticly all around her for the man who had screamed. The manic like laughter was back. A shocked look appeared on her face when she realized that somebody was laughing at her for having jumped.

"Well!" She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest as she glared all around her. "What nice ghosts!" She couldn't help but say sarcastically. A small smile lit up her face as she realized what she had just said. She couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all. It was kind of funny, after all.

That was, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

A small surprised cry came out from her lips as she jumped off of the couch and looked to the offending ghost. It was a man. But, he didn't look like she would have thought him to be. He looked as real as she did. At first she had to wonder if maybe this wasn't a ghost at all.

But, then he smiled at her. His mouth was full of rotten and broken black teeth. 'Don't run away..' Not that she could anyway. Her feet seemed to be stuck to the ground.

The man/ghost walked closer to her. His long fingers were reaching for her neck, as his face light up with a wicked smile. Lynn shook her head, her eyes wide as she backed away from him, her feet finally unstuck from the ground. Though her legs were stiff now.

Breaking whatever spell was on her legs, she forced herself to turn and run. But she didn't run to the door, like she wished she could. Instead she ran upstairs. Her feet hitting each wooden step on the staircase could be heard throughout the entire house as she ran. That same manic laugh could also be heard as the man chased after her.

Her heart was beating wildly as she made it to the second story of the house. She ran right, knowing that it didn't matter which way she went, the manic like man would catch her either way.

She ran into a bedroom. It had a four-poster bed, but that's all she had time to really notice, the man was right behind her.

She was backing against the wall now; the man was in front of her reaching for her again. Her back hit the white wall. 'Oh no!' Was the only real thought that she could register at the moment.

It was suddenly dark in the room. The sun had gone down and the moonlight was showing brightly through the window on the other side of the room. As the man reached for her his skin started chipping away and it showed a skeleton. 

Lynn let out a scream as the man was now nothing but a skeleton. His bony fingers were now wrapped around her neck. She could feel the hard cold bones pressing in on her.

Then everything went black, and she could no longer feel or see anything.


	3. How Did I Get Here?

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Author Note's: _The third chapter is here!! ^-^ You won't believe what all I've been through to get this here O.O; I was updating my Website all day. Speaking of my Website, please go there!! The address is ____, go check it out!_

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Answers to reviews:

Saiyan-girl-cheetah - Yay!! ::Takes her tickets, ish all happy:: Thank you! Glad you like it ^^

Elita - Thanks ya! I actually didn't mean for it to be a cliffhanger.. I was just so excited about the chapter that I couldn't wait any longer, so I went ahead and posted it ^^;;

Rae - It was wonderful meeting you!! And I can't wait to read your fanfics ^-^

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A Hearty Life

How Did I Get Here?

ByMoonLight Star

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She felt the hard wooden floor beneath her again as she fell to the ground. 'My legs must have given out.' She thought to herself. She couldn't see anything because she had closed her eyes out of fright. She couldn't stand looking at the skeleton ghost any longer.

She was shaking in fright as she waited for his bony fingers to lie upon her and take her to wherever this ghost took all the other people who had ever lived in that house.

Instead of feeling bony fingers though, she felt warm hands on her shoulders, shaking her gently. The person's long hair was tickling her arms slowly. Confused, she opened one eye a crack to look at her captor.

What she saw instead was a beautiful ocean. The waves were crashing upon the dock that she was on. The water was a clear crystal blue that you could see right through it and to the sandy ground below. She saw a few golden and purple fish swim together in the water. Lynn couldn't help but smile at the wonderful picture.

Lynn looked over her shoulder, half expecting to see the skeleton ghost, and saw a man instead. He had long dark brown hair and sweet chocolate brown eyes that were looking at her with kindness and confusion.

"How did you get here, mate?" The man asked. His speech was slightly slurred but right now she didn't care. She was just happy he wasn't a ghost.

Lynn frowned in confusion though at his question. "I.. I don't know.."

"You don't know?? Well, did you swim up and climb in me boat when I wasn't looking?"

Frowning even more she took a good look where she was. She wasn't on a dock like she had thought. She was on a small boat. She felt incredibly stupid as the man looked at her. 'He must think I'm a moron.. What am I suppose to tell him? Well, you see, sir, I was being chased by a ghost and I got scared and closed my eyes, but when I opened them again I was here! He would never believe me..'

"Umm.. Well, yeah.. I went out for a swim and my arms started getting tired when I saw your boat.. I didn't think you'd.." 'Wait a second. There isn't any land around here!' She thought in a bit of panic, but she couldn't change her story now. "..mind.." She finished her sentence weakly.

The man's eyebrows shot up rather quickly at her story. "You must be a strong swimmer, mate." The tone in his voice said very clearly that he didn't believe her.

Lynn's cheeks turned a bright red as she looked down at her feet. "Well, I've been swimming since I was about five years old. I used to swim everyday. I guess I was just so deep in thought before that I didn't realize just how far I had gone out."

Frowning, the man studied the girl in front of him. She definitely wasn't from around here. She was wearing the most peculiar cloths that he had ever seen. "Do you know your way home, lass?"

Blinking at the kindness that this man was showing her, a stranger, Lynn lifted her head and met his eyes. "I .. No." She answered back. 'What about my parents? And Toni? My hour will be up soon. They'll come looking for me..' She couldn't help but feel panicked as she thought about her family.

The young man must have realized that she was panicking because he put his hand gently on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Well, my family.." Before she could say anymore he had lifted his hands, a reaction that said, 'say no more.'

"Aye, I understand. Which way did you come from? The north? We could sail out there till you see something that looks familiar."

"No..umm.. I.." She didn't really know how to tell him that she didn't live that way, if she said she didn't then he would think her to be even more suspious then what she expected he thought she already was.

"No?" Those eyebrows were up again as he looked at her.

"I mean.. yes. I thought you had said something else, sorry!" She answered back with fake cheerfulness.

"Alright, mate. Let's start heading out then. Oh, wait, you never told me your name?"

"Oh.." Feeling rather stupid that she hadn't already told him, she put her small hand in front of her, wanting to shake is hand. "I'm Lynn." The man smiled at the small blush that she had and took her hand in his rather large one. "I'm Jack Sparrow."

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Author Notes: _Three pages ^^ that's how much I wrote this time, so it's a bit longer then the other chapters. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I myself didn't really care to much for this chapter.. Blah.. ;; Oh well, review please ^^_


	4. Beautiful Brown Eyes

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Author Note's: _Oh wow!! I can't believe how many reviews I've gotten!!!! I'm just so amazed by it all! Thank you guys' sooooo much!!!! ^-^ Oh, and guess what? Somebody put me on his or her favorite author's list!!! That's never happened to me before! I'm just so happy that you guys like this fanfic ^-^_

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Answers to Reviews:

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Tourniquet - I actually was thinking along the same lines, I was all 'Hmm.. Should I have Jack kiss her hand?' Cause it is something that he would do. But, I ended up not doing it ^^; I guess he was to suspicious of how she got on his boat ^^; and, yes, I do agree with you, I should have had him say something like:

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack grinned as he bent down, his long locks of hair falling across his face as he kissed her hand gently. Lynn's face stained an even brighter red as she looked at the hansom man.

"I.. I'm Lynn Heart." Lynn stuttered.

That probley would have been better ^^; I had forgotten all about how he always corrected people on that. And to think that same day I was hanging out with my friend and she said something about Jack Sparrow, and I corrected her, jokingly, by saying "Don't you mean Captain Jack Sparrow?" She started laughing and nodding her head ^^;

Blue Kat - I'm glad you don't think it's a Mary Sue. I was starting to get a little worried that people might really think she was one, which isn't good. Mary Sue's are annoying.. Blah ; But, you haven't seen it yet?? Oh, its sooooo good! One of my favorite movies now ^.^ Oh, don't leave when the credits start at the end, they show a really small clip after its over, of course the credits take like 15 minutes -_-;; But, the end clip is pretty cool ^^ I'll also go check out your stories, soon ^^

Baby_green_leaf - Thank you! I'm glad you liked it ^^ since you liked that chapter I'm sure you'll probley like this one as well ^^

Saiyan-girl-cheetah - Aww., you see that was intentional, you weren't supposed to know which boat or ship she was on just yet ^^ Plus, that chapter was mainly about Jack and Lynn, how they met. I really wanted to switch the point of view so we could see just what was going on in Jack's head when he was trying to figure out how she got there. But, I figured it's good to keep people wondering what the character's are thinking ^^

Lol, yeah, I think that was the main part why Jack was looking at her all suspicious, she wasn't wet from swimming. But, Jack is a gentleman and you know he'll help her get home, even if her home isn't really in that world.. But, he doesn't know that yet ^^;

I also agree with you, I tend to get so excited about a chapter that I do things too quickly, I know I need to slow it down a bit, but that's so hard when you have a chapter and you think people will like it, plus had a blast writing it ^^;; But, I'll definitely try to slow it down, pay a bit more attention to my writing, making sure I got it all right ^^

No offence taken at all. I like it when people give me what they think on things like that, I think it helps make the story even better because the author will take their opioun and try it out, see how it works and such. I'm glad that you gave me your opioun on this, much appreciated!! ^^

Err.. I think my 'Answers to Reviews' is almost as long as my last chapter!! Oops.. ^^;; I'm sorry, I just can't help but answer all of you guys, your all just so sweet ^.^

Well, anyway, I know I've bored over half of you to death, your probley over here thinking, 'Come on, already!! On with the story…" So, here it is ^.^

A Hearty Life

Beautiful Brown Eyes

By MoonLight Star

Laughing, Toni walked into the haunted house. "Watch she's hiding in a corner somewhere." She said to the owner of the house, amused. Though, he didn't look to amused at all. He had a stern face as he looked around the living room for Lynn.

He thought she would have ran out scared by now, but she didn't. Now he was worried for the girl. 'What if something happened to her? Her parents would blame me because it is my property that she disappeared on.' Worried that he might get sued, he started searching the kitchen and the dinning room while Toni searched upstairs.

He looked all around the downstairs of the house. He was only in there for five minutes before he himself ran out scared. He kept hearing somebody sneak up behind him. Whoever was sneaking up behind him had rather heavy boots, so he could hear the 'thump, thump' of them as they tried to sneak up on him. And more then a few times he thought he felt the tickle of somebody breathing on his neck.

He was outside alone in the heat for a few minutes before Toni came out. Her blue eyes were wide with worry. "You didn't find her?"

Tom shook his head. "No. I was hoping you had found her." Toni sighed. "No. But, I did find something. The house is dusty because nobody ever goes in there. So, there's dust on the floor everywhere. It shows her footprints, didn't you see them? They started at the front door?"

Blushing, Tom shook his head, embarrassed that he hadn't seen such an obvious thing. "Well, the prints lead up the stairs and into the master bedroom." Toni stopped, hesitating.

"Where else did they go?"

"Well, they lead to the wall beside the bed. But, that's it. She never moved from that place. It looks like she just stood there. She should still be there, though. There aren't any prints leading away." Tom's green eyes widened at the news. 'Oh no. It looks like the ghost has claimed another soul.. It's just like what happened so many years ago..'

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The waves of the ocean were crashing apon the small boat that Lynn and Jack were in. Lynn had never been sailing before, but she had fallen in love with it as soon as they set out towards the north, trying to find her "home." She loved feeling the wind caress her face and go through her hair, making it dance wildly in the wind.

Jack had his eyes on her the whole time. Almost as if he was watching her to see if she would disappear as quickly as she had appeared. Jack couldn't help but be grateful that she hadn't came to any other boat or ship. If any other pirate would have found her.. He really didn't want to think of the horrors that Lynn would have had to face with them.

'I don't think she knows I'm a pirate.' Looking down at his clothing, to see if he really did blend in with the other men in the white wigs that dwelled on dry land, he saw that he did not. He looked back to the girl, but stopped in mid thought when he saw her.

Lynn was standing at the front of the boat, her eyes closed as the wind kept playing with her hair with the sweetest of smiles on her face. Jack couldn't help but smile himself. 'She's so innocent. I guess it isn't really a real surprise that she doesn't recognize who I am. She seems very sheltered. A girl who would love to be outside but forced to stay in.' Shaking his head, Jack walked up beside the girl. "Does any of this look familiar, love? Are we going in the right direction?"

Avoiding eye contact with him, she said, "Well.. A little bit.." Lynn hated to lie to the nice man, but she didn't know what else she could do. He would probley throw her off his boat if she told him the truth, thinking she was mad.

Jack saw dry land in the distance. He really didn't want to go any closer then this. Not everybody was as nice to a pirate as Lynn was, after all. "How about that place, do you live there?" Jack knew if he just asked her, 'Where exactly do you live at?' She would stutter and be caught. He knew something wasn't right with her story. For one, she wasn't wet at all, so she didn't swim to his boat. But, there was no other way she could have gotten here, he would have noticed a boat or a ship. But, until she could trust him, he wouldn't say a word and would act like he believed her story.

"I.. Um, no. I'm pretty sure that's not it." Lynn was looking down now, trying to hide her blush. When she lied she blushed, she just couldn't help it.

"Well, there are groups of land around that area, we can go check it out." Jack said as he walked back to the rutter and the sails. He started messing with them; doing things that Lynn had no idea what to.

Lynn walked a bit closer to the front of the boat but stopped immediately when she felt a sharp pain in her foot. Lynn reacted by balancing herself on her unhurt foot and slowly lowered herself to the ground, her right arm making sure that she didn't fall.

She sat on the ground and took off her pink flip-flop sandal on her left foot and looked at her wound. A splinter was embowed into her foot. 'Oh great.' She though as she winced. She had never gotten a splinter before, and now that she had one she knew she didn't want another one.

Curious, Jack came to her side. "What's wrong?" Before she could answer he was sitting Indian style in front of her, already looking at her wound. "Aye, you wouldn't believe how many times this has happened to me. Hold on, there." His warm gentle hands took hold of her foot and put it in his lap for easier access to it.

His hands were a bit rough from having had fought with swords and the likes, but that didn't bother Lynn at all. His hands were so gentle on her as he worked the splinter out that when he did finally get it out, she was no longer in pain. She felt fine. Though she knew Jack probley knew she was fine, his hands continued to stay on her foot as he used his thumb and index finger to gently rub her foot.

Lynn couldn't help but smile at the gentleness as she looked at Jack. Jack was already looking at her though; he had the most peculiar look in his eyes that she had never seen before. Curious and also lost in his eyes, they both continued to stare at each other.

Lynn couldn't believe how beautiful his eyes were, but at the same time it felt as if he was staring right through her so he could feel and see what she had been through and what she was feeling now.

Lynn broke their eye contact when she heard shouts coming from the land. There were men shouting and pointing at them and some were even waving their arms franticly as they looked at them. "Jack, what's going on?"

Jack was up in seconds when he realized what was going on and he hurriedly ran to the other side of the boat. "I accidentally led us to close to the land!"

"Well, what's wrong with that?" Lynn asked confused as she hopped up and down on one foot, trying to put her other sandal on and trying to keep her balance on the constantly moving boat.

"Love, not everybody likes me as much as you seem to." He stated as though it were a fact. Not exactly sure how to take what he said, she turned back to the land and saw the people there with something black that was huge. "What is that?" Her eyes were poor and she couldn't see over great distances. All she could see was something big that was black.

Cursing, Jack muttered, "It's a cannon."

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Author Notes: _Hope you liked it!! I think this was the funest chapter for me to write.. I don't know.. I think it's a tie between this one and 'A Skeleton in the Dark' ^.^ Well, review please ^^_

--Quote from the Movie--

"You are the worst pirate I have ever seen!!" The man with the white wig said, his voice was rough as he said this, showing that he was mad.

"Ah, but you HAVE heard of me, right?" Jack said as he threw his chest out, proud of himself.

Sorry.. I just really liked that part in the movie, and yes, I know I embellished a bit on it, but its how I saw it ^^;


	5. A Pirates Life

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Author Notes: _Hi, me again ^.^;; Sorry that it took awhile to get this chapter out, I was a bit busy. I bought a video Capture Card this week!!! ::Squeals:: Its soooo cool! But, I've been messing with that instead of working on my stories, sorry!! ^^;;_

Answers to Reviews:

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Elita - Thanks! ^.^ Yeah, knowing Lynn she's going to be freaking how when those cannons start shooting at her o.o; I mean, anybody would ^^; and poor Jack.. He's going to be the one to have to deal with her ^^; and thanks for telling me that my link didn't show up.. I didn't even notice that it didn't ::Hits herself in the head:: Doh!

Jadedrose01 - hehe, thanks ^.^ I hope you like this chapter as well ^^

Rae - Hehe, glad you like it!! ^^

Shanelover1 - Whoop! Yay!! ::Dances around the room:: Wonderful! ^.^ Hope you like this chapter as well ^^

A Hearty Life

A Pirates Life

By _MoonLight Star_

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The small wooden boat was turning away from the patches of land, but not quickly enough in Lynn's eyes. They were setting up at least five different cannons and they were pointed right at them.

"Jack, I don't understand! Why would they want to hurt us? We weren't even on their land!" Lynn's frantic voice said. She hated weapons being pointed at her, of course, but having something that big that was pretty much like one huge gun scared her half to death.

Jack didn't answer her though, if he just ignored her or didn't want to answer her, she couldn't tell. But, the boat was finally sailing farther away from the island, though not far enough in Lynn's eyes. She wouldn't feel safe again until she couldn't even see the island.

She heard something whistling by in the air, she whipped her head to the side to see what it was. But, she was blinded by water going all in her face and soaking her entire being.

Falling to the floor of the boat, sputtering and choking on water, she looked to the water at the offending object, it was a huge black like ball, she had only caught a glimpse of it, it was sinking to fast into the ocean. Another one whistled by before she even had a chance to gain her breath back, this one almost hit the boat.

The boat started thrashing around terribly from the cannon ball that had fallen a few inches away from it and into the water. Lynn ducked herself down onto the floor of the boat, scared to death that they were going to be hit by the cannons.

Lynn glanced at Jack and saw him messing with the rutters wildly, trying to get them out of here. He was looking panic stricken. Another cannon ball whistled by and the next thing Lynn felt was herself being bounced up and away from the boat from the force of the impact of the cannon ball to the boat.

The next thing she knew she was in the freezing water of the ocean. She was so shocked that she opened her mouth causing water to seep into her throat. Eyes widening in panic she swam to the surface of the ocean.

Her head broke through the waters of the ocean, her mouth wide gasping for air, but choking instead. She felt a large hand grab her arm and forcefully pull her into the boat again, she didn't see nor care who, though. She couldn't breath at all! Her mouth was still open trying to get air to her lungs that desperately needed it but the air did not go in.

That same hand was rubbing her back gently, trying to comfort her, it helped relax her muscles and eventually she started to breathe. Every time she sucked in air her throat made a wheezing sound, saying that she was still in danger of not being able to breathe.

After a few minutes when Jack was sure she was ok, he left to continue steering the boat. (**AN: **_Has anybody ever done that? I wrote that scene from experience.. I swallowed my food wrong one night and that's exactly what happened to me o.o; I was freaking out ^^;; I didn't have a Jack to help me though ::Sniffles:: )_

It took Lynn several more minutes to shake off the feeling of almost choking to death. Shakily, she stood up in the boat and looked to the rear, she could still see the island. She sighed in relief when she mentally calculated the distance and decided they wouldn't be able to get anywhere near them.

Lynn changed her gaze to land on Jack, he had a stern face on but she could tell that he had been in a panic before. "Are you alright, love?" His deep voice asked in concern.

Lynn opened her mouth to say she was fine but she was interrupted. Somebody was yelling at them again from the island. Straining her ears she tried to catch what he was saying.

"Don't you ever come back here again, you filthy pirate!" It was very faint and for a second Lynn thought she was hearing things, so she turned to Jack, prepared to forget all about it. But, when she saw his face she knew she heard correctly, Jack looked almost guiltily at her.

"Your.. A pirate?"

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Author Notes: _Hehehe, and we'll just stop right there ^-^ Review please and tell me what you thought about it ^-^_


	6. Strong Swimmer

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Author Notes: _You guys, be really really glad that you got this chapter.. ::Pouts:: I'm sick!!! I could barely concentrate when I wrote half of this because of my headache and my sneezing, but I did it! So, I hope its not to sucky.._

Answers to Reviews:

Mi - _That's actually one of the reasons why I picked Lynn as her name, theres a lot of people who are named Lynn, and I know with me when I read a story that has my name in it, I always get so happy for some reason ^^;;;_

And yes, Lynn is from our time but its like an alternate universe, they never made a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and Lynn herself never really bothered to read about pirates, so she wouldn't know any better if Jack was a pirate of not ^^

Thank you for telling me the right phrase! I thought I was a little off when I wrote it but I couldn't remember ^^;; Thanks!

Jadedrose01 - _Aww.. Wonderful! I'm sorry that I kinda left you hanging on the last chapter, it took me like.. What? 3 weeks to get that chapter out? Sorry!_

Natalie Aja - _Hehe, thanks! I know I tend to put chapters out really fast cause I get so excited about it, but for now on I'm going to try to put out a chapter each Saturday, that way it gives me a week to really work on it ^^_

sugar icing - _I know!! Isn't he adorable!! Hehe, seriously, Jack's so cute!! ::Drools:: Oh, and I'm glad you didn't find any grammar mistakes, I know I misspell a few things but I'm pretty good at grammar, and when I'm not my spell checker finds it and corrects it ^^_

Krillball6 - _You probley just now received my e-mail!! ^.^ Hope you like this chapter! ^-^_

Saiyan-girl-cheetah - _Actually, I'm not to sure how Jack's going to find out about her.. I tend not to plan my stories and just go with it ^^;; But, for once, I actually planned a lot of this fanfic out, but I haven't decided how Jack's going to find out about Lynn yet, I have an idea of how to do it, but I'm not sure if I'll do that. ^^;;; Any idea's would be great ^^ _

Serenity - _I must be honest with you. I was a bit hurt when you basically pointed and laughed at my story, but I also realize why you did. The first chapter of my story is .. Well, even I must admit, terrible. It was so terrible that if I weren't the writter and I read it, I would have ex'ed the story out and not bother to look at it again. I should have taken more time on that first chapter because that's the chapter that introduces the story, if that chapter is bad then a lot of people will not read your fanfic, no matter how good the rest of the chapters may be._

I am so glad that you gave my story another chance and read it, I know a lot of people probley wouldn't have, so I thank you for giving it a fair chance. I'm also sorry if I offended you in anyway! ^.^ And, of course your back in my favor! Anybody who has the guts to say something bad on a public review page and then turn around and apoligize on that same review page should always be forgiven in my eyes, it takes a lot of guts to do that ^^ So, thank you so much for your review! You have no idea how much it lifted my spirits! ^.^

Swiftbreeze Truarrow

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Hehe! Yay! You really like it? That's great! I really didn't think anybody would like this fanfic.. But I'm really glad they do! ^.^

ShaneLover1 - _Lol! I know.. It would have been much easier if Jack was there ^.^ But, It really sucks to lose your breathe o.o; I hate it when that happens!_

A Hearty Life

Strong Swimmer

Chapter 6

By MoonLight Star

Sighing, Toni ran her fingers through her hair. "That's impossible, Tom! Some demon-"

"You mean ghost." Tom said like it was a fact.

"Or ghost," She corrected herself, annoyed. "Did not take Lynn. Its impossible!"

"Whatever. Lets just check the forest." Tom was sick of arguing with Toni. They had wasted time fighting for twenty minutes about if Lynn had been taken by some demon or ghost, or if she was just hiding to get back at them for making her go into the haunted house in the first place.

Frustrated, they each went their separate ways while calling Lynn's name, hoping she was just playing a trick on them.

After twenty minutes of looking for Lynn, Tom leaned his back against the bark of a tree, sighing. '_I'm so going to get sued for this.' _He thought. He wasn't really worried about Lynn at all, he just wanted to find her so he wouldn't get sued. He pushed himself away from the large oak tree and continued searching. In the background echoing through the trees, Toni's voice could be heard, calling for her as well.

***

"Your…A pirate?" Lynn asked him with her eyes wide as she did a double take at him, just now seeing what kind of cloths that he was wearing. She had never dressed up as a pirate for Halloween, but she had seen people who did, and he looked just like them, only difference was, he was a real and true pirate.

Jack looked almost embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking down, in a nervous habit. "Well, yeah." He really didn't know what else to say to her. He, himself, was beyond surprised when she didn't know he was a pirate. '_A sheltered life..' _he thought not for the first time that day.

Lynn couldn't help but continue to stare at him, she knew it was rude and it was making him nervous but she just couldn't help it. _'Just where am I? Pirates aren't real. I can't be on my Earth, could I?' _After a few more moments of staring at Jack she finally blinked a few times, breaking the stare. Embarrassed, she looked down towards the wooden floor of the boat.

And saw water.

Lynn looked back to Jack. _'Wait, water?!' _She thought as she looked back at the wooden floor, doing a double take. '_That's not normal. But, then again, what has been normal today?' _

"Jack! There's water in the boat!" Surprised that he hadn't noticed before, Jack saw there was indeed water in the boat. His dark brown eyes started roaming the boat wildly trying to see where it was coming from. It took him a few moments but he finally saw it. There was a small hole in the corner of the boat. _'That's why I didn't see it. When it hit was when Lynn fell into the water.' _

It was a small hole, but water was coming in through it rather fast. Jack ran over next to the hole and tried to stop the water coming in with his hands, once it became obvious that that was not going to work, he opened a spare bag that was on the other corner of the boat with a few other bags that looked like it held food.

Jack grabbed a dirty old rag from one of the bags and shoved it into the hole. "That's not going to hold for long." He muttered as he inspected the hole. Water was still coming in, but not as fast as before. "That will buy us time." 

Frightened, Lynn couldn't help but twiddle her fingers together and grab one of another, squeezing it to get out the nervous energy. Jack was up again, she saw, this time he was holding a piece of paper. The sun was facing her, allowing her to see through the piece of paper, from what she could tell, it was a map. "Where are we going to go?"

Jack looked nervous, himself. "There's only one place within reach. But, we might not make it that far. If we don't we'll have to swim the rest of the way there." When he saw Lynn's frantic look he couldn't help but tease her. "It should not be a problem for you, mate. After all, you _are _a strong swimmer, remember?"

Blushing, Lynn nodded her head.

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Author Notes: _There ya go! The next chapter will probley be out next week on Saturday ^^ Every Saturday I will try to put a new chapter out, sorry if it's a few days late though ^^;; Hopefully by then I won't be sick. ::Sneezes:: D'oh….._

::Looks at how many reviews she's gotten:: Wow! 26 reviews.. that's more then I ever hoped for! Thank you to all of the people who reviewed! Just thinking about it makes me feel a lot better ^^ Thanks!

Oh, before I forget (Like I always do.. ) I'm thinking about making a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic, if I were to write one (it wouldn't be a standalone ^^;) do you think you guys would read it? I pretty much have the plot all written out and such. I probley will go ahead and write it, I just wanted to know what you guys thought about it ^.^


	7. Arriving at Port Royal

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Answers to Reviews:

Dark Ice Dragon - _Hehe, the sinking boat is my fav part of the movie too. Brillant entrance! ^^ I fell in love with the music, also. Basicly, I just fell in love with the whole movie ^^;; It was great._

Rory4 - _That's what I was aiming for, an original plot that nobody has ever done before. This story was actually inspired by real events o.o; We have a haunted house about 10 to 15 minutes away from where I live. A guy really will pay you $50.00 if you stay the night there. I was to scared to go in it ^^;;; My sister said from what she has heard, screams are heard throughout the whole house and blood will suddenly appear on the walls and run down it. Everybody who has ever lived in that house has died. She also said that if you go in there you'll see like a ghost little girl that used to live there. The weird thing is, she actually wasn't making it up o.o;;;; Its true. I don't know if anybodys actually stayed the night there or anything, but that's how this story came about ^.^ So, thank my sister for scaring me half to death ^^;;;;;;_

Serenity - _Woop! Yay! You think I'm getting better at writing! ^.^ Lol, its called Rurouni Kenshin. Its an anime with a really really cute guy in it ::drools:: But, I think you could read it and still enjoy it. Its ok if you don't know the char's cause my fanfic will be an alternate universe type thing, so you'll get to know the char's as you read along ^.^ Thanks a bunch for the review! ^^_

Krillball6 - _Really? Your coughing too? Everybody in my house is sick (Well, alright.. There's only three people living here but still... ) My parents keep coughing too, sounds like you have the same thing that they do. I hope you feel better!! ^.^_

Usagi Kou - _Lol, glad you like it that much to say that ^.^;;_

Niki - _Don't worry, your doing just fine ^-^ ::Points up at the second review:: Read that and it'll tell you all about how I came up with this story ^^ I'm actually tempted to go into the haunted house.. Maybe I'll have the same fate as Lynn and meet Jack.. ::sighs dreamily::_

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Author Notes: _Well, good news is I'm not sick anymore! ^-^ You guys must be lucky or something because all the people who said get well soon, I got better like one or two days after o.o;; ::Hugs all her reviewers:: thanks ya! ^^_

Now, bad news is.. I got this chapter out late!! ;-; I don't get it.. every time I say I'll have it out by a certain time I never seem to get it out. But when I say nothing about it I get it out on time o.o;;; Weird…

Well, I hope you like this chapter! 

A Hearty Life

Arriving at Port Royal

Chapter 7

By MoonLight Star

The ocean's waters were beating against the boat as they tried to make it to Port Royal causing it to rock gently back and forth. Lynn had her arms wrapped around herself as she shivered from the cold. The tempeture wasn't cold outside, but the water was. She was now in knee-deep water, their boat was sinking faster and faster, making Lynn shiver more and more. 

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'Oh, I really really hope we don't have to swim, the water's to cold!' Lynn thought as she let her gaze fall onto Jack. He was really trying to get them to land. Lynn almost wished she could start throwing the water out of the boat with a bucket again, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good, at least she felt like she was helping that way.

Lynn had only been on a boat one time, when she was thirteen. It was a speedboat though and it was nothing like this boat. She wanted to help, but she feared if she were to help, she would mess up and cause even more trouble for Jack then what she already had.

Jack must have felt her gaze on him because he turned around and looked right at her. "You ok, love?" Even though her face was pale from the cold and had almost no color in it, she blushed. She couldn't help it; nobody had ever really called her 'love' before.

Lynn nodded her head. With her teeth chattering like mad she said, "I'm fine." She had to wonder briefly if he had even heard her. Deciding to tell him again, in case he couldn't understand her, she nodded her head. Jack looked unconvinced but he turned around anyone.

Land was close now, she could see it. They were heading towards a secluded beach. There was a docking but she figured Jack didn't want to cause any more trouble then what he already had.

The water was way past her knees now. The boat wouldn't be sailing anymore in a few minutes. _'We're going to end up having to swim.' _It wasn't really a surprise for Lynn, nothing really seemed to favor her, so she usually always did things the hard way. Sighing, Lynn waited as the boat sank more and more as they got closer to Port Royal.

It only took a few minutes for the boat to almost go completely under the water. Both Lynn and Jack were in the water now. "My god, it's freezing!" She doubt he heard that either, but he looked like he understood. _'Probley cause he's thinking the same thing to.' _

Grumbling with her chattering teeth, they both swam as fast as they could to land, trying to get away from the freezing waters.

***

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'I should check one more time.' Tom knew Lynn wouldn't be in the Haunted house, but he had to try at least one more time before he went to go tell her parents what happened. It was night now, if Lynn wasn't there then he had no choice but to go to her house and tell her parents.

Tom walked into the house, now having been in there so many times looking for Lynn, that he almost wasn't scared of it anymore. Almost.

Tom followed the footprints on the heavy dust that Lynn's sandals had left behind, his own footprints adding to the collection of both Lynn's and Toni's. He followed them up the creaking cob welled stairs. A loud creek through the entire house followed every step he made.

He walked down the hallway, into the master bedroom, and in to that same corner that Lynn had been in. In frustration he sighed loudly and raked his hand through his hair, leaning his back against the wall.

That's when he saw it.

There were other footprints. Fresh ones right behind his own footprints. They stopped at the door though and didn't go any further. Tom's eyes widened in fright and looked around the room wildly. When he looked back to the door, more footprints were there.

With his eyes wide he watched as seemingly the air was marching towards him. The footprints were walking towards him like somebody was there. He clutched his gold wedding ring in fright, a habbit of his. He couldn't move at all, like his feet were stuck to the ground along with his back to the wall.

Then he realized something. He was against the wall where Lynn's footprints had stopped, and this was his first time in the house alone. It was Lynn's first time in the house alone, too. He couldn't ponder much longer. The footprints were just an inch away from his own two feet now.

His large hand gripped his ring as he waited.

And waited.

He must have waited five minutes of terrible fright. He had bent his wedding ring's metal now, causing it to be in a more overall shape. It was halfway off his ring finger as he continued to look around franticly, his heart beating wildly.

He looked in front of him, at the door; he was going to run for it. He didn't care if he got sued anymore, he just wanted out of the house.

But, somebody wouldn't let him. Before his feet had left the ground a ghost face appeared suddenly in front of him, glaring at him, almost growling even. "If I must be cursed, so be you!" The skeleton ghost said, the same one that Lynn had seen before.

Tom saw swirls of colors next and the feel of himself falling. Screaming at the top of his lungs as he waved his arms franticly, trying to see something, anything. 

He hit the ground hard. He wasn't screaming, or even moving at all anymore.

Back at the Haunted house, the Skeleton ghost was still there. In his fright, Tom had dropped his wedding ring. The ghost picked it up with his bony fingers, a devilish smile appeared on his face as he came up with a devious plan.

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Author Notes: _Hehehehe… just what is his plan? You'll have to find out later!! I had so much fun writing this chapter… this is my favorite chapter by far ^^ Now things are starting to get really interesting.. I wonder where Tom ended up, hmm? Or did he die from the long fall? I wonder how Lynn's parents will react when they find out Lynn is missing, if anybody ever gets the chance to tell them? Hehehe…. So many questions, so many teases.. Heh ^^ Well, I hope you liked this chapter, I think this is my favorite chapter out of all them, so I hope you guys think so too! Review please ^-^_


	8. The Skeleton Curse

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Author Notes: _There is no excuse as to why I haven't updated, so I'm not going to bother with giving one. So, instead I'll go to the normal 'Review Answers' ^^_

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Answers to Reviews

Rory4 - _Weird.. You were in a real haunted house? Did anything weird happen while you were there? Like seeing ghosts maybe? =^.^= Hehehe.. He liked it? That's great! That's sweet.. Your so lucky you have a boyfriend.. :: pouts and turns green with envy :: I don't have a boyfriend! Er.. Wait.. :: looks to all guys reading this story.. :: I'm single!!!! ^^;_

Shanelover1 - _Hehe.. I wanted to make him really really scary, I had this certain picture in my mind of him and what all was happening, it was enough to scare me so even though it sounds cruel, I hope I scared someone with it ^^;;;;;;;; Cause that's what he's there for._

Dark Ice Dragon - _Hmm.. Barbossa? :: Grins :: Now you know I can't answer to that or to whether Tom died or not.. But I have * a lot* planned for this story! Hehehe, its going to be great! :: Gets all excited :: ^^;;_

Jadedrose01 - _I know.. I'm so sorry. All I'm really going to say is that around Christmas I got sick with the flu and then once I got over it I got sick again! The doctor said it was a "Flu like sickness" ;; I was so mad ^^;; Next time.. I'm getting a flu shot! ^^;;_

A Hearty Life

The Skeleton Curse

Chapter Eight

By MoonLight Star

As Lynn crawled onto the beach, her arms staggering from tiredness, the sand sticked to her wet form, staining itself onto her cloths and in her hair, she truly smelt of the ocean now.

She collapsed to the ground, gasping for air and relaxing her muscles. She always considered herself a good swimmer, but after swimming that distance she had to doubt her own thoughts. Especially when she looked to her side and saw Jack, who looked like he just took a refreshing stroll through the park. She couldn't help the smile that spread over her face as she thought of what the two of them must look like to any on lookers.

"We best get going, love. We don't want anybody to see me." Remembering the reason why they were here in the first place, Lynn nodded her head as she pushed herself away from the ground. Her gaze dropped to her cloths which was covered in sand. A small blush stained her cheeks as Jack looked at her sand covered cloths. Embarrassed she wrapped her arms around her stomach, covering the sand from his view.

A small grin lit up Jack's dark features. 'She gets embarrassed so easy..' He thought mischievously. He stored that bit of information away for later, knowing it would be fun to playfully tease her later. With that thought in mind and with a wide smile on his face as he thought up of different ways to play with her, they walked away from the beach, looking for somewhere to stay. Jack was already feeling himself get attached to this young girl that came from seemingly nowhere.

***

The old two story house looked threatening, even to those who knew nothing of what people liked to call 'The Skeleton Curse.' The house itself reeked of something horrible, though what it was nobody could say, some say it was the victims of the ghosts, sending out messages to all who was near by to save them, to set them free. Others who were more dramatic would say it was death itself, though nobody knew for sure just what it was that made the house so depressingly scary.

Its surroundings didn't help what would be a nice house view. The old white creaky house was set on top of a hill. But, it was as if the house itself was cursed because leading up to the hill the grass faded out and all that was there was dirt and rocks. It seemed as if mother nature herself refused to go near the house.

The forest just behind the house was said to be cursed as well. Though how that rumor came up nobody really knew, maybe it was just because of the way the tree's limbs leaned over the house, casting a dark shadow over it.

Or maybe it was the long roots of the trees that seemed to reach out to people, getting in the way of their feet and tripping them. Not matter what it was, the house was always cast in the dark, never seeing the light. Most felt that it was right to do that. That the entire area was so cursed that it didn't become cast in the shadows by accident. They thought it was so evil that the sun refused to grace it with her sweet rays of light.

But there were other questions… Lynn had heard the story of this house from her sister, she had found out just that day, even. Her sister, Toni and Lynn didn't know of the other story surrounding the house.

The house was called 'The Skeleton Curse' but nobody could figure out why, and a few had to wonder how some of the rumors began, somebody had to be there to spread them, right? Maybe it wasn't just rumors. People do say rumors start with a fraction of the truth. But what all was truth and what wasn't?

All of this was on the minds of the people in the small town of Hot Springs as word spread out that another person had disappeared in it. A young girl. Nobody knew who she was, they had never heard of her so rumors flurred up that she was here to spy on all of them and then to go tell the ghosts who was the best person to take away to their halls of hell.

Though others knew this was nonsense, mostly the girl's family and friends. Others who didn't believe any such things were worried that she had been kidnapped.

Nobody knew, but this girl's name now rang across the small town everywhere.

Lynn Ann Heart.


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